Material handling device



Dec. 31, 1935. W. F. ANDERsbN ,025,702

MATERIAL HANDLING DEVICE Filed May '19, less 'l/IIII/IIIIIIIIIIIIflIIIIII/la 711 :7 1 INVENTOR. f I W/Lm ffi/vpmsa/v "BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 31, 1935 -NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATERIAL HANDLING DEVICE- ration of Illinois Application May 19, 1933, Serial No. 671,781

8 Claims.

This invention relates to material handling devices, and more particularly to an improved material delivery chute to be employed in connection with dispensing equipment for solid materials,

such as a locomotive coaling station.

In certain of the older prevailing types of material handling apparatus, material is conveyed from a storage hopper to a receiving bin or hopper, such as a locomotive tender, by means of a lo suitable delivery chute. The chute is usually pivotally mounted, particularly in locomotive coaling stations, so that the delivery end may be swung upwardly into an out of the way position, to clear any portion of the locomotive or train passing under it. A serious objection to the older prevailing forms of material delivery chute is the great danger of trapped material falling from the receiving end of the chute when the delivery end is raised into its inoperative position. It is, also,

not an uncommon occurrence for the vibration,

attendant upon swinging the chute to its inoperative position, to dislodge lumps of coal from the conveyor leading to the chute, the lumps falling into the chute, and sliding out the rear end thereof, with likelihood of injury to workmen or others engaged about the base of the chute support or tower.

Further objections to the older prevailing form of delivery or transfer chute, particularly the type of chute having a deflector member or hood on its delivery end, are the excessive noise produced by the lumps of coal striking the deflecting hood, and the resultant breakage of a part of the coal. The noise is particularly objectionable to pas- 5 sengers on Pullman trains when coal is being delivered to the locomotive tender during the night. Therefore, among the objects of the present invention is the provision of an improved silencing and cushioning element which may be located at the delivery end of a chute, and which is adapted to minimize the noise otherwise incident to the use of the chute, and to prevent breakage of the coal delivered to a locomotive tender, or other receiving bin.

Another object is to provide a safety device at the material-receiving end of the chute, which will effectively prevent any of the material, dislodged by vibration or other cause, and falling into the chute when the chute is in its inoperative position, from being discharged at the rear end of the chute, with attendant hazards to persons and equipment.

A further object is to provide an improved gravity-actuated safety gate at the rearward end of the delivery chute, the gate being arranged to close the rear end of the chute, when the chute is swung to its inoperative position.

A still further object is attained in the provision of an improved flexible silencing and cushioning element, adapted to be hingedly secured in a suitable position within the deflector or hood member at the delivery end of the chute, the element being so arranged as to deaden effectively the impact of the descending material against the deflector, and to prevent in large measure, 10 the breakage of the material.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the following specification, and from the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a material con- 15 veyor system and the upper portion of a supporting tower therefor, showing an improved deliverychute pivotally secured to the tower frame; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the defiector member or hood which is shown as at- 29 tached to the discharge end of the chute, and showing a silencer cushion element therein, and the preferred manner in which it is swingably supported; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional end view of the hood, and a sectional end View of the 25 silencer cushion, and mounting therefor, as taken along line 3-3 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a. sectional elevation of a rear end portion of the chute,

showing a safety gate and the manner of supporting it upon the chute. 30

Referrng now to the drawing by numerals of reference, Ill designates, generally, a preferred form of material handling structure, including a supporting tower I2, which may be of any suitable form and construction. In the present example, the description will refer particularly to a material handling structure intended for use in connection withlocomotive coaling stations, hence the tower I2 will be mounted adjacent a railroad track (not shown). be understood that the improved material handling equipment of the present invention may be applied to any purpose for which such apparatus is suitable.

Secured by any suitable means to an upper 45 portion of the tower frame is a bracket structure It, having a portion thereof extending horizontally from the tower, as illustrated in Fig. 1. A material transfer conduit or chute I6 is pivotally secured, adjacent its material receiving end, to the extended portion of the bracket 14, the pivotal connection being shown at H3. The pivotal connection permits the delivery end of the chute to be swung upwardly, so as to clear any portion of a locomotive or train passing thereunder.

However, it is to The transfer member or chute I6 is preferably made of sheet metal, formed as a channeled or trough member having side walls 20 and a bottom 22. Secured to the under side of the upper end portion of the chute, and extending beyond the ends 26 of the walls 20, are balance or counterweight members 24 which render the chute easily movable about its pivot l8. The chute is usually moved about its pivot, from one position to another, by chains (not shown) connected to suitable points on the chute, the chains generally being controlled from an operators shed (not shown) at the base of the tower.

A bucket type conveyor system, the upper end of which is shown at 28, extends to the top structure 30 of the tower I2 from a storage hopper (not shown), preferably located at the base of the tower. The buckets 3i convey material, coal in the present example, from the storage hopper to a receiving hopper 32 secured to the structure 33 .at the top of the tower. A coal opening or outlet 34 is disposed in a side of the hopper 32, adjacent the bottom thereof, and connects the hopper with the chute, when the chute is in its operative position, as shown in full lines, Fig. 1. It will be noted that when the chute is in operative position, the end portions 26 of the chute walls 2!), as well as the chute bottom, overlap respectively the side walls and bottom of the hopper 32. The overlapping of these wall portions obviates any accidental loss of material at the point of connection between the hopper and chute.

A deflector or bafile member 36, including a material-directing wall 38 and side walls 40, preferably formed from sheet metal, is secured to the discharge end of the chute by rivets 42, or by any other suitable securing means. The wall 38, which in the present example is substantially vertical when the chute is in its materialdelivering position, directs the material downward, and the side walls 49 coacting with the wall 38 to constitute a directing hood, aid in confining the material so that little or no material will be lost upon discharge from the end of the chute.

The excessive noise produced by the coal in striking the directing plate 38, has heretofore caused considerable annoyance: to passengers on a train which has stopped to recoal the tender. The noise becomes particularly objectionable to sleepers on a Pullman train when the tender is being replenished late at night. Furthermore, a great amount of coal breakage occurs, since the coal lumps strike the bafl'le wall 38 with considerable force. Therefore, as a means for relieving these heretofore objectionable features of operation of the chute and deflector member, a flexible' silencer or cushion member 44 is freely suspended, for swinging movement, between the Walls 48 of the hood, and spaced somewhat rearwardly of the deflector wall 38. The cushion member is preferably composed of a leather or canvas base, coated on one or both sides with a layer of rubber, which may be vulcanized into or onto the canvas, the rubber covering resulting in a greater cushioning effect. In addition, the rubber layer on the canvas base, decreases the noise of impact between the coal and cushion member. The flap 44 is suspended from a supporting rod 46, secured between the walls adjacent the upper edges thereof, preferably by a plurality of metal hangers or straps 48, the straps being looped over the rod 46 and secured to the cushion flap by rivets 50. The straps, however, may be formed from any suitable material, as

desired. The flap is weighted on its lower edge 7 by a metal angle piece 52, secured thereto by any suitable means, such as rivets 54. As is readily seen in Fig. 1, the cushion member extends below the hood or deflector member, in order effective- 5 1y to cover the hood lip portion 56, and. to prevent any possible impact between the member 52 and lip 56.

A tail gate or closure member 58 is freely pivoted to the upper end of the chute, by a hinge or 10 pivot pin 65, which extends through an enlarged apertured portion 6| of the gate, and has its ends bearinged in ears or lug portions 62 on the chutebalancing members 24., An arm 64, which may be made integral with the gate 58, extends d0wnl5 wardly from the point of pivotal support of the gate, and is disposed at an angle to the plane thereof. A weight 66 is secured to the free or outer end portion of the arm 64, for maintaining the arm vertical for any position of the chute 20 within the limits of its pivotal movement. Since the gate and arm are rigidly connected, the gate will remain at a fixed angle with respect to the horizontal, in any position of the chute. Hence the gate, as illustrated, is essentially a gravity 25 operated device. The angle between the gate and arm is such that the gate is parallel to the bottom of. the hopper 32, when the chute is in its operating position, and tightly closes the rearmost end of the chute when the chute is in its inoper- 30 ative position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The purpose of the gate 58 is to prevent injury to workmen, immediately below the chute end, from falling pieces of coal which may have been dislodged from the bucket 3|, by the vibration at- 3 tendant upon swinging the chute to its inoperative position. Without the gate, a piece of coal becoming dislodged from the bucket 3| would drop into the hopper 32, roll out the aperture 34, and thence into the chute l6, whence it would 10 escape from the rear end of the chute, and fall upon persons or objects below. Frequently, workmen about the base of the tower l2 have heretofore been struck and injured from such falling coal. The presently described safety gate 58 serves fully to obviate such danger. Since the weight 66 on the arm 64, is on the same side of the chute pivot It as the weight members 24, the weight 66 acts in conjunction with the weight arms 24 in counterbalancing the chute,

The element 44, freely suspended within the deflector member 36, functions as a cushion for the coal sliding down the chute, preventing breakage of the coal pieces, as they are deflected downward by the cushion and deflector wall 38. In addition, the element acts as a silencer, materially decreasing the noise otherwise due to impact of the sliding coal against the deflecting wall 38.

The safety gate and silencer cushion members, as applied to a chute of the type herein described, render the operation of the chute less objectionable as regards excessive noise, and adds to the safety of its use. Moreover, one or both of the members may be applied, as well, to other forms of chutes or material handling equipment.

It is to be understood, of course, that the present description of. the elements of my invention are not limited to their illustrative forms, but may be altered or modified without departing from the spirit and full intended scope of the 70 invention, as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with material handling apparatus, a support, a material transfer chute pivotally associated with said support, said chute having an inlet end and a discharge end, balance members adjacent the inlet end of said chute, and a gravity-actuated closure member pivotally secured to said balance members, and adapted upon the pivotal movement of the chute, to close the inlet thereof.

2. In combination with material handling apparatus, a conveyor and support therefor, a. material-receiving hopper on said support having a discharge aperture in one side, a chute pivotally mounted on said support, and having an inlet formed by wall portions thereof, adapted overlappingly to engage said hopper in relation to receive material through said discharge aperture, couterweight members on said chute, and a gravity-actuated member pivotally secured to said weight members, and adapted upon swinging movement of said chute, to close said inlet.

3. In combination with a chute for coal and similar solid material, a pivot for said chute intermediate its ends, about which the chute is adapted to be swung between operative and inoperative positions, a tail gate for said chute, an arm secured to said chute and normally depending from the inlet end of the chute, and means coacting with said arm for swinging the gate into chuteclosing position as the chute is swung about its pivot to an inoperative position.

4. In combination with material handling apparatus, a support, a material transfer chute pivotally mounted on said support, and having a discharge outlet at one end: a deflector member secured to, and extending beyond the discharge end of said chute, and a flexible member suspended within said deflector member for silencing and cushioning the flow of material from the discharge end of the chute.

5. In combination in material handling apparatus, a support, a material transfer chute pivotally mounted on said support, and provided with a discharge outlet at one end, an angular material deflector member secured to and extending beyond the discharge end of said chute, said member including a deflecting wall facing the discharge outlet of said chute, and a freely suspended flexible cushion member within said deflector member, spaced from said deflecting wall.

6. In combination in apparatus for handling solidmaterials,asupport,a chute pivotally mounted on said support and having a discharge outlet at one end, a deflector secured to and extend- 5 ing beyond the discharge end of said chute, and including a deflecting wall facing the discharge outlet of said chute, a rod extending transversely of the deflector and spaced inwardly of said deflecting wall, a plurality of hangers on said rod, and a flexible cushion member secured to said. hangers, said flexible memberbeing adapted to cushion the flow of material toward said deflecting wall.

7. A coal chute provided with a pivot intermediate its end about which the chute is adapted to be swung between its operative and inoperative positions, a pair of members swingably disposed at opposite ends of the chute, one of said members adapted as a gate to close one end of the chute when the chute is in inoperative position, a. counterweight for closing and opening said gate as the chute is moved, the other of said members adapted as a baffle and mounted for swinging movement under the impact of a stream of material through said chute.

8. In combination in apparatus for handling solid materials, a conveyor and a support therefor, 'a materialreceiving hopper on said support adapted to be supplied from said conveyor, a chute pivotally mounted on said support, having an inlet end formed to engage said hopper in one position of pivotal chute movement; said chute having a discharge end and a material-deflecting hood secured thereto, said hood including a deflecting wall facing said discharge end, a flexible cushioning member freely suspended within said hood, and spaced inwardly of said deflecting wall, and adapted to cushion the impact incident to flow of material toward the deflecting wall; counterweight members carried by the inlet end of said chute, and a gate, pivotally mounted on said weight members, and means coacting with the gate, upon pivotal movement of said chute, to close the inlet end of said chute.

WILLIAM F. ANDERSON. 

